Demand for ironworkers best it's been in 20 years

Demand for ironworkers 'best I've seen' in 20 years

Jacob Barnes, a member of Local 135 in Galveston, competes in rebar tying Wednesday at the Ironworkers Union apprenticeship competition in Houston.

Jacob Barnes, a member of Local 135 in Galveston, competes in rebar...

Five years ago the mood wasn't exactly upbeat at the annual Ironworkers Union apprenticeship competition. The job market was sluggish, and there wasn't a lot of work for the craft workers in training.

But this year, ironworkers are in demand in a way they haven't been for two decades. Office towers and hospitals seem to be springing up nearly everywhere, new chemical plants are dotting the Texas Gulf Coast and multifamily housing units can't get built fast enough to house the influx of new residents.

All that building means that ironworkers - the construction workers who reinforce concrete and build steel skeletons for the huge building projects in Texas and along the rest of the Gulf Coast -are in short supply.

The seven apprentices from Texas and Oklahoma who competed for the chance to represent their district at the union's international competition in Toronto later this year knew they were being watched by contractors who had come to check out the new crop. (The local union has several female apprentices; none was in the competition.)

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"It's the best I've seen in the last 20 years," said Greg Schulze, training director for the ironworkers' apprenticeship program in Texas.

'The market is insane'

Schulze remembers 2012 as a tough year. But work started picking up last summer.

"Now the market is insane," he said, adding that he believes demand for ironworkers will remain strong until at least 2020.

"I'm looking to order more chairs," said Terry Sieck, area coordinator for the ironworkers' apprenticeship school in Houston. The union has 220 apprentices, but Sieck figures he'll have 300 by this time next year.

The three-year apprenticeship program combines on-the-job training with classroom instruction. Each apprentice goes to school three hours a night, two nights a week. There is no cost for the classroom training.

First-year apprentices in the Houston area start by earning $14 an hour plus health, retirement and vacation benefits. By the time they're journeymen, they're earning nearly $22 an hour, plus benefits.

"If you don't like it, you're not going to make it," said Jacob Barnes, a third-year apprentice and a member of Local 135 in Galveston. Barnes is building catwalks at a refinery in Beaumont.

He was drawn into the craft after his older brother, an ironworker, died when a crane collapsed.

"I get to hear stories about him," explained Barnes, who said his brother was well known in ironworker circles.

Word has gotten out that craft unions such as the ironworkers have jobs to fill.

"I have a steady stream of applicants," Sieck said.

Not for everyone

But it's not a job for everyone. Sieck estimates only half of the applicants make it to the second class. Many find it "too hard, too hot and too high," he said, referring to the physical exertion of working outside hundreds of feet off the ground installing windows and reinforcing concrete.

Barnes, who had a spool of wire on his belt, had to show off his skill tying knots as one part of the competition. He had to tie five kinds of knots and had one minute for each type.

"There's a lot of eyes on you," said Barnes, whose wife and 4-year-old daughter cheered him on.

"You are supposed to be the best out of our local," Barnes said.

Jim Hayes, general superintendent for Bosworth Steel Construction Solutions in Dallas, was keeping a close eye on the apprentices. He had business cards, giving them out as he congratulated each of the men on their skills at tying rope, tying rebar and climbing steel columns.

"These guys here are at the top of their class," said Hayes, a former apprentice himself out of Ironworkers Local 263 in Fort Worth who became a journeyman in 1999.

"It's a big deal to us if you made it this far," said Hayes, who never made it to the competition level as an apprentice.

Hayes is hoping the apprentices will consider working for Bosworth when they finish their training program.

The shortage of apprentices is even bigger in Dallas-Fort Worth, said Hayes, who added that his company has job opportunities in many cities.

"Bosworth!" Montel Broom exclaimed as he shook hands with Hayes. As a newly minted journeyman ironworker, Broom is eligible for the competition.

The 21-year-old is working on a two-story bowling alley in Norman, Okla., and is earning $23.10 an hour plus another $16 in benefits. Plus, he works a lot of overtime. He said he is familiar with Bosworth and slipped Hayes' card into his wallet.

'I fell in love with it'

Broom joined the ironworkers apprenticeship program after his high school vocational technical teacher gave him a brochure about it.

"I fell in love with it," said Broom, who managed to shimmy up the 30-foot pole in less than 15 seconds.